Full name Michael Wheeler Country United States | Nationality American Team 11. Joe Gibbs Racing | |
Born November 4, 1978 (age 38) ( 1978-11-04 ) Southold, New York, United States Residence Huntersville, North Carolina, United States Sport Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Education Kettering University (2002) | ||
Michael "Mike" Wheeler (born November 4, 1978) is an American racing crew chief for the No. 11 Toyota Camry, which Denny Hamlin drives in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He was named crew chief to start the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. He also has crew chief experience in the Xfinity Series.
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Engineering
Wheeler became the No. 11 team's engineer in 2005 with Jason Leffler. Even when Leffler left JGR, he stayed on the team with new driver Hamlin until the end of 2015.
Xfinity Series
Wheeler was made crew chief of Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 20 Xfinity Series entry before the start of the 2015 season. He did a fair amount of adjusting during the season, as JGR rotated through eight drivers. Wheeler scored nine pole positions, four wins, one with Erik Jones and three with Hamlin. Hamlin, Jones and Matt Kenseth all scored five or more top ten finishes.
Sprint Cup Series
His first crew chief experience came in the Cup Series with Hamlin in 2014, when regular crew chief Darian Grubb was suspended six races for car violations. Wheeler guided Hamlin to three top tens and a top five in six races.
Wheeler was named crew chief for Hamlin before the start of the 2016 season after serving as his race engineer for several seasons. According to both parties, Hamlin had promised Wheeler his head crew chief job six or seven years before he finally got the job. In the first race of the season, Wheeler shepherded Hamlin to a win in the 2016 Daytona 500.
Personal life
Born on November 4, 1978 in Southold, New York, Wheeler attended Kettering University to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. He graduated from the college in 2002, and currently resides in Huntersville, North Carolina.